Dumba Turning Things Around In AHL With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

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Written by: Tony Androckitis

@TonyAndrock on Twitter/X

WILKES-BARRE - It was quite an eventful weekend for Matt Dumba, perhaps led by a chance encounter during warmups at the Mohegan Arena before Saturday night's game against the Syracuse Crunch.

On what was 'Cross Check Cancer Night' for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the team had cancer survivors on the their bench during their warmup skate as well as 13-year-old Sophie - who completed her final treatment for Ewings Sarcoma on January 10th after surgery, radiation and 14 rounds of chemotherapy.

"I got a chance to talk to her and her mom and little sister, and I told her I was going to score for her tonight," Dumba said of his conversation during the pre-game skate.

Late in the second period, Dumba was able to deliver - firing a shot from the right point that bounced in past Syracuse goaltender Ryan Fanti off a fortuitous bounce off a Syracuse defender in front of net.

Dumba immediately turned around to the opposite end of the rink to section 110 to wave to Sophie like he said he would after he scored a goal for her.

"They told me they were sitting in (section) 110 so I had to turn around and point to them," Dumba said of his gesture after the goal. "(It was) very, very special. It couldn't have worked out better. Yeah, crazy, crazy, it leaves you with a lot of emotion. Happy I was able to do it."

The goal gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead and really put the game out of reach in their 4-1 win.

After a four assist performance the next day in a Sunday afternoon clash in Allentown against the Phantoms, Dumba was named the AHL's 'Player of the Week' for the week ending February 1st.

It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows for Dumba with the AHL's Penguins despite the nice-looking goals and assists stat line of 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 17 AHL games since joining Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on December 13.

It was clearly evident he was playing - at times - like he was having a tough time coming to the realization that he was playing "in the minors" when he first arrived to Wilkes-Barre.

Exclusive 1-on-1 interview with Matt Dumba behind the paywall for InsideAHLHockey.com subscribers.